Firstly, I just re-discovered this game and it's epic! Hard to believe that so many old RTS games, which are far superior to current gen games, are free to download and play! So thank you to everyone who has kept this game alive.

What I'm finding frustrating is that I can't find information on what exactly the commander does in terms of unit buffs? Do all units under his command have the same rank as him? Does that mean that their own individual ranks don't matter? Does all of the exp they gain go to the commander? I'm sure there must be a wiki or something somewhere but I can't find this information anywhere. Some general information about the exp system would also be helpful.

And I'm correct in saying that the experience of the units doesn't matter when they're attached to a commander? So, really, for the most part you only care about the experience of a single unit. That kind of ruins the exp system for me

After a hacker attack in june we had to scrap most of the website's php code, leaving only forum database. We're having a new guide in beta-testing [1], but i think it doesn't have this page ready yet.

I'm correct in saying that the experience of the units doesn't matter when they're attached to a commander?

No. If unit has more experience than commander, he doesn't get it decreased to commander+1. Also you can get hero+1 units by attaching hero units to commanders.

1. Do these buffs apply to attached artillery and vtols the same way as to direct fire units? I ask this because those units work a bit differently with commanders, like you can assign as many of these to a commander as you want, and I thought there might be other differences.

2. If you ask for artillery support on the command panel of a commander, will the buffs apply to the artillery pits helping that commander?

3. Well, this isn't exactly about the commanders, but about sensors. Do the sensors work the same way as commanders and give buffs to the attached artillery and vtols?

nearo wrote:Hi there!
I have a few questions about the commander buffs.

1. Do these buffs apply to attached artillery and vtols the same way as to direct fire units? I ask this because those units work a bit differently with commanders, like you can assign as many of these to a commander as you want, and I thought there might be other differences.

2. If you ask for artillery support on the command panel of a commander, will the buffs apply to the artillery pits helping that commander?

3. Well, this isn't exactly about the commanders, but about sensors. Do the sensors work the same way as commanders and give buffs to the attached artillery and vtols?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

You realize you are replying to a 4 year old post?

I use Ubuntu GamePack By UALinux for gaming. Best Ubuntu Distro for Warzone

I don't see why is it better to have a bunch of separate topics with similair subjects instead of have all the information about one thing under one topic...
If the mods or admins agree with you I promise next time I will open a new topic if I don't find anything relevant within the last two years.

nearo wrote:I don't see why is it better to have a bunch of separate topics with similair subjects instead of have all the information about one thing under one topic...
If the mods or admins agree with you I promise next time I will open a new topic if I don't find anything relevant within the last two years.

nearo wrote:1. Do these buffs apply to attached artillery and vtols the same way as to direct fire units? I ask this because those units work a bit differently with commanders, like you can assign as many of these to a commander as you want, and I thought there might be other differences.

No. And it makes no sense to attach vtols to a commander because they need too much time to get rearmed at their rearming pads. Meanwhile, the commander is unprotected and an easy target.

nearo wrote:2. If you ask for artillery support on the command panel of a commander, will the buffs apply to the artillery pits helping that commander?

No

nearo wrote:3. Well, this isn't exactly about the commanders, but about sensors. Do the sensors work the same way as commanders and give buffs to the attached artillery and vtols?

nearo wrote:1. Do these buffs apply to attached artillery and vtols the same way as to direct fire units? I ask this because those units work a bit differently with commanders, like you can assign as many of these to a commander as you want, and I thought there might be other differences.

No. And it makes no sense to attach vtols to a commander because they need too much time to get rearmed at their rearming pads. Meanwhile, the commander is unprotected and an easy target.

it also makes no sense to VTOL strike turret either?

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Ok let see if I can explain this. Now as I understand it, if units attached to a commander are lower rank then the commander then they will have there rank increase to what ever the rank of the commander is.

So if your commander's rank is Elite and the attached units are Regular then the attached units will act as though they are rank Elite while attached to the commander, and they will gain the following bonuses.

Speed
+30%

Accuracy
+30%

Enemy Accuracy
−30%

Damage Taken
−36%

If the attached units are higher rank them the commander so in this case the commander is Veteran rank and the attached units are Elite rank then the attached units will have there rank increased by +1 and will act as if they are rank Special and they will gain the following bonuses

Speed
+35%

Accuracy
+35%

Enemy Accuracy
−35%

Damage Taken
−42%

When hero rank units are attached to a hero rank commander then they will act as if they are hero rank +1 and they will gain the following bonuses

Speed
+45%

Accuracy
+45%

Enemy Accuracy
−45%

Damage Taken
−54%

When using the fire support command to let a commander control your artillery turrets no bonuses are applied and no experience will be gained by the turrets, the commander may or may not continue to gain experience I'm not sure because I don’t generally use the fire support command

With regards to scanners they don’t work the same as commanders attached artillery will not gain bonuses, you can however attach mobile artillery to a commander and your mobile artillery units will have the commanders bonuses conferred upon them however you should keep in mind that the commanders range of sight is smaller then mobile scanners and requires a direct line of sight which makes targeting difficult in some cases.

A good example of this is on alpha 12 where a scanner will easily be able to target all the new paradigms turrets regardless of where they are a commander however will often struggle to target turrets that are in elevated locations just like all other units that require I direct line of sight, I have also experimented with attaching mobile artillery to scanners and then attaching those scanners to a commander so that they will gain the commanders bonuses but that doesn't really work very well either.

So realistically you are probably better to use your artillery with scanners instead of commanders, although this decision will depend on your play style and the specifics of the level in question.

with regards to attaching VTOLs to commanders while this is possible its general not a good idea this is what the VTOL strike tower and VTOL counter strike towers are for

The VTOL strike tower works in a smiler way to a scanner and artillery and will cause any attached VTOLs to attack any enemy targets that comes into range of the VTOL strike tower.

The VTOL Counter Strike Tower works like the counter battery tower only instead of commanding attached artillery to counter fire against enemy artillery positions it will cause attached VTOLs to counter strike enemy artillery positions.

while i don't use these much they can be handy for defending your base, and when used as part of a combined arms assault the effect can be rather nasty.

for example attach VTOLs to a mobile VTOL strike tower then attach the mobile VTOL strike tower to a commander along with a regular squad of units and as your commander and attached units attack the enemy the VTOL strike tower will call in air support against what ever the commander targets, and if you also use the fire support command as well then things can get really really really nasty, particularly when combined with hell-storm howitzers.

you can of course just attach the VTOLs to the commander directly but again its better to use the VTOL strike scanner instead since that has a bigger range of sight and doesn't require a direct line of sight to get a target lock.

So, alfred007 said artillery doesn't get the commander buffs, while Bethrezen said they get them. I realized I can test it easily myself since I can shoot at my own units by holding the Alt key.

My test results are:
First I made a control test where I shot at veteran HVCs with a TK. The attached HVC took 19% damage from a volley of rockets, while the unattached took a bit more, 21% - as expected.
After that I made various tests with attached and unattached artilleries and VTOLs, but the damage was the same in all cases.
So, both artillery and VTOLs can't get any bonuses. It does not count if you attach them to sensors or commanders, or you just send them out unattached.

And here is one extra result from the tests: the commanders can get experience from artillery support fire.